tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20637018.post4636674104846969935..comments2015-02-04T14:29:47.744-06:00Comments on Prairie Bluestem: The Glory of Fairview, KYGenevieve Netzhttps://plus.google.com/108863629074987051891noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20637018.post-32712629279878514252007-02-10T11:48:00.000-06:002007-02-10T11:48:00.000-06:00You know, I am really surprised how many people th...You know, I am really surprised how many people think that Kentucky was a full-fledged member of the Confederacy. That wasn't at all true. When I went to Fort Donelson, TN, for example, the park ranger there told me that ancestors on both sides of her family all fought for the Union and they were from the area of Kentucky now occupied by Land Between the Lake. I imagine that there were plenty of grudges amongst neighbors after the War, as well as grudges against the "Yankee aggression."Genevievehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08004780820713448880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20637018.post-82763546090780162012007-02-09T13:38:00.000-06:002007-02-09T13:38:00.000-06:00I was born in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Was...I was born in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC of a father from Gordon, NE - not far from your hometown and of a mother from central Florida. So that makes me a nominal Southerner.<BR/><BR/>I have struggled with the meaning of the Civil War. In grade school it was "cool" to be a "Rebel" as opposed to a "Yankee." But as I grew I came to understand the deeper significance of these terms and for what what they actually stood.<BR/><BR/>I've come to the conclusion that the Civil War, like most of humanity's manmade catastrophes, was largely fought by poor people for the benefit of rich people. <BR/><BR/>Most southerners in those days didn't own slaves, but the economy of the time depended on them. Rich landowners extracted enormous profits from free labor. Poor ignorant farmers were induced into sacrificing their lives and families to benefit these rich landowners. Thomas Jefferson recognized that the institution of slavery was morally unsustainable, and he was right.<BR/><BR/>Sounds a bit familiar... today America is realizing that we were dragged into yet another unecessary war through manipulation of public opinion by a few who stood to make enormous profits from Iraq's oil.<BR/><BR/>50,000 of my generation sacrificed their lives in Vietnam, and countless more lives were ruined for what we now understand was no good reason. <BR/><BR/>The rich and powerful once more manipulate the poor and ignorant.<BR/><BR/>When will we ever learn?<BR/><BR/>Sorry for the rant, but thanks for the insight.RunAwayImaginationhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11392405682285496123noreply@blogger.com